Bored at a party given by his parents, Tom McHugh heads to his room to gaze at the girl across the street through his telescope. He notices her reading  Saratoga Longshot,  and muses there has to be a way to find out more about her. He goes to the girl’s back porch to scout through her trash, and hears her phone ring upstairs. She picks up to speak with her mother, and explains that she cancelled her date for the evening. The next day, as Tom’s parents leave on a trip, his older brother, Craig, arrives wearing expensive clothes and driving a classic 1959 De Soto convertible. Craig will not let Tom drive it, but allows him to pull it into the garage. The De Soto has a push button automatic transmission, with no designated “Park” button, and Craig tells Tom he has to set the parking brake when he shuts off the car. From Tom’s room, Craig gets a look at the girl across the street and goes through the bag of trash Tom retrieved, discovering a discarded bill with her name, Geena Matthews, and phone number. Although Tom is afraid to call her, Craig does it for him, and when Tom refuses to get on the phone, Craig pretends to be him, asking Geena if it will be all right if he shows up at her house at 7:30. Craig takes Tom out for a makeover, remaking his brother in his own image. As it nears 7:30, the Sunnydale Florist deliveryman drops off flowers, but Craig refuses to give him a tip and leaves in Tom’s car. As he drives away, the deliveryman backs into the rented limo that is to take Tom on his date. Tom notices the keys to Craig’s car on the dining room table. As Tom gets out at Geena’s, the De Soto rolls backward, but he sets the emergency brake before it gets away. When she finally answers the door, Tom hands Geena the flowers, but before she will go out with him she wants him to answer a few questions. She asks which novel he last read, and he answers, Saratoga Longshot. When asked if he has any personal heroes, Tom says he has always looked up to his older brother. Charmed, Geena agrees to join him. When she gets into the De Soto, she accidentally sits on an audiocassette tape, which Tom puts away in his jacket pocket. As they arrive at Kory’s restaurant, a black car pulls up, and the driver watches the couple go inside. Despite his efforts to be suave, Tom spills his drink all over himself, and goes in search of a towel. When he returns, Tom is confronted by a woman who slaps him before he can tell her he is not Craig. Tom asks Geena if she minds going someplace else. When they stop at a gas station, Geena goes to the restroom, and the sinister man reveals he is Police Detective Condon and puts Tom under arrest. The cop asks where the flowerpot is, and when Tom opens the trunk, they find a dead body inside. As Tom slams the trunk, the dead man’s gun goes off, shooting the detective. Tom shoves the detective’s body into the trunk before Geena returns. She tells Tom she is having a great time, but when he pays for the gas, the bill he proffers is covered in blood. He tells the attendant that he had a nosebleed, and asks if there is a pay phone. Tom calls home, but only gets the answering machine. He leaves a message outlining his plight. Finding a souvenir from the Club Voltaire in his brother’s jacket, he leaves a message for Craig to meet him there. As Tom and Geena leave the gas station, a pickup truck drives in, towing the damaged Sunnydale Florist truck. The deliveryman notices Condon’s hat on the ground in a pool of blood. As he picks it up two police cars arrive. The cops question the deliveryman about Craig, and he relates that Craig tried to run him off the road. At the Club Voltaire, a raucous teen nightclub, Tom apologizes for bringing Geena, but she is thrilled. Meanwhile, the cops tear apart the McHugh home looking for evidence, and hear Tom’s phone message. At the club, the bartender tells Tom his brother is upstairs. When he gets upstairs, Tom finds a dead Chinese man with a phone to his ear. He snatches a note with the name “McQ” written on it from the corpse’s hand and grabs Geena. Outside, as they are about to kiss, a police officer informs Tom he is missing a tire. The officer offers to help, but Tom diverts his attention as he pulls the spare from the trunk. The missing tire replaced, Tom and Geena start to drive away, but the cop calls them back to show Tom a pool of red liquid on the pavement. The Officer tells Tom it is time to have his transmission fluid flushed and replaced. As they drive, a cell phone goes off, and Geena wonders where the sound is coming from. The other police arrive at the club and learn that the person they believe to be Craig “McQ” was there and that there is a dead Chinese man upstairs. Tom and Geena drive through a Chinatown dragon festival, and are noticed by two Chinese thugs. As they walk through Chinatown, Tom leaves Geena to look for a restaurant while she goes to a shop. Tom finds a janitor who translates the symbol on the back of his shirt; it means “look in the pot,” which comes from a Chinese proverb about a poor boy who is given a beautiful pot but never looks inside and starves to death because he fails to discover the pot is filled with riches. When Tom returns, Geena is having her fortune told. She tells the fortune teller that Tom is really the one who needs predictions. The fortune teller calls Tom an imposter, and the young man beats a hasty retreat with Geena. However, just as he is about to explain what is going on, Tom is accosted and told his table is waiting at Chez Lew restaurant. He is persuaded to accept the invitation, when one of the men pulls a gun—a gesture unseen by Geena. At the restaurant, Geena asks how Tom knows Mr. Lew. He tells her he does not, but that Lew knows his brother—and dislikes like him, so he also dislikes Tom. An army of waiters arrives with an array of Chinese dishes. Tom tells the other patrons it is Lew’s birthday. As the crowd congratulates Lew, Tom and Gina escape. In the car, Tom reveals he is driving his brother’s car, wearing his clothes, using his credit card—and that everyone thinks he is Craig. All he knows is that they are after a vase that belongs to Lew. Geena discovers Craig’s phone number on the paper Tom took from the dead Chinese man, and using her experience in retail sales, calls a number to get an address based on the phone number. Craig breaks into an art gallery and makes a telephone call to say he has the vase and will deliver it. When Geena and Tom arrive at Craig’s address, they find the place has been ransacked. Geena wants Tom to tell her what is going on, but he tells her he cannot and she storms off. Craig’s cell phone rings and it is Mr. Lew calling from his car phone outside. As Geena walks away, three Chinese thugs grab her, and when Tom comes out they beat him up. Lew tells the boy he has until 2:00 a.m. to return his property or he cannot guarantee Geena’s safety. Meanwhile, Craig arrives back at the family home and is outraged to discover his De Soto is missing. Realizing he is being watched, Craig escapes out the back of the double-doored garage. Tom returns home hoping to find Craig, but finds the place has also been ransacked. He discovers the audiocassette tapes have been rifled through and realizes everyone is looking for a cassette that was inside the vase. He pulls the cassette from his coat pocket and notices Chinese characters written on it. On the recording is Condon, the detective, in conversation with Lew. As Tom tries to leave, police cars and helicopters descend on the house. Tom eludes them; however, he forgot to set the brake on the De Soto, and it starts to roll. Tom hops in the car, but is followed by a Sunnydale Florist truck. As he goes through his brother’s wallet looking for Lew’s business card, he loses control of the car and smashes into a construction barricade. He gets out of the De Soto and retrieves Lew’s card, but a truck drives by and runs him off the bridge. Tom holds onto the card as he dangles by a support wire. The Sunnydale deliveryman stops but refuses to help him because of the problems Craig has caused him. However, as he rants, the De Soto again starts to roll and knocks the deliveryman off the bridge. Although he survives, landing on the train track below, a passing train seemingly finishes the job. Tom drives to Lew’s house in the Sunnydale delivery truck and bluffs his way past the security guard. Discovering Craig’s wallet at the bridge, the police assume he was the one run over by the train. They realize the Chinese man in the trunk of the De Soto was Lew’s hit man, hired to kill Craig. Instead, the one shot he fired accidentally hit Condon. Tom sneaks into Lew’s house, but is captured. Geena punches Lew, but he recovers and his henchmen surround the young couple. Craig shows up with the real vase, but Lew does not want it, and demands the cassette tape from Tom. He hands it over, but tells Lew he has made copies, and says he can prove it with a phone call. He calls his home answering machine, and starts the tape copy playing. The police in the home hear the taped conversation. The police arrive, but turn out to be Lew’s colleagues. Lew tells the crooked cops to kill Tom, Geena, and Craig, but to save themselves they propose killing Lew instead. A gunfight ensues. Tom and Geena get out the door just as more police arrive. After their rescue, Tom confronts Craig, who tells them he has brought adventure into their lives and this will be the one date they will remember forever. The Sunnydale deliveryman emerges from the back of the van and demands his tip from Craig. Tom drives Geena home in silence. At her front door, she tells Tom she still knows nothing about him, then gives him a light peck on the lips and goes inside. He knocks on the door, tells her he has a couple of questions for her before he can say good night, and kisses her.